Wine exhibition to showcase domestic industry’s progress
«Dionyssia,» the Greek wine showcase, opens today at the Zappeion Hall, in the center of Athens, offering the public a chance to sample the country’s wine. The exhibition will be open until Sunday, featuring more than 90 domestic winemakers and their labels, as well as some foreign producers. The event, its organizers suggest, is the «postmodern» version of a wine fair, as the products on display will only be bottled wines and visitors will not «drink» but «taste.» «’Dionyssia’ reflects the massive progress of Greek wine,» said the exhibition’s director, Dinos Stergidis. «People are not interested anymore in drinking much, but in drinking well, which the Greek vine can provide them,» he says. Greek wine may be just a runner-up in the global market but it has a promising future. Along with Mediterranean food, the Americans have become familiar with Greece’s wines, and the Canadians, Belgians, Austrians and Dutch are already showing a steady preference. Germany, however, remains Greek wines’ best customer as, despite a certain decline, half of wine exports still head there. The battle Greek wines have to promote themselves abroad is tough, although statistics from the last five years show that domestic wine can expect better days if its undisputable quality and its «quality name of origin» are disseminated. A recent study by the Exporters’ Association of Northern Greece (SEVE) has shown that 2002 was one of the worst years for Greek wine, as exports fell by a third, but in 2003 they rebounded strongly. However, an examination of the data showed that in the 1999-2003 period the total trade of wine production remained stable, with 2001 excepted. Wine imports were not steady, though, with a notable rise in 2002. Exports showed a decline up to 2002, yet in 2003 there was a 41.7 percent rise. The average annual fall over the last five years was 2.1 percent. Although there have been many more new players entering the sector in the last 15 years, Greece remains a small-scale producer, facing various difficulties despite its long winemaking experience. Greece is virtually absent from Europe’s market due to a lack of promotion and consumer awareness, its non-competitive prices and the complicated and hard-to-remember names. The sector’s common belief is that Greek wines dominate the domestic market but that in the future the local industry must adapt to the changing competitive environment. A survey conducted in Thessaloniki by postgraduate agronomy students at the Aristotle University, showed that wine is the main beverage consumed at daily meals by consumers and seems to be preferred to other alcoholic drinks. «Local wine shines in the Greek market,» said wine producer E. Gerovassiliou. He believes the future of local wine as an export product belongs to Greek specialities, as Asian countries, producing well-known specialities by cheap labor but not consuming wine for religious reasons, are ready to enter the market.
